Christmas at Home

It was SO nice spending Christmas at home. My parents were planning on just going to Hawaii the day after Christmas and kind of skipping the whole Christmas experience at home. But fortunately, they still decided to decorate and were so excited to have our family make last minute plans to be with them. It was wonderful to have a quiet, calm Christmas with just my parents.

Christmas Eve, the girls opened their Christmas pajamas. I had found Christmas fabric for 50% off and made them each a pair of pajama pants. Then I got white undershirts and ironed on a Christmas decal. They looked cute! Especially that little baby girl...

I made t-shirts for me and Braden too, but there wasn't enough fabric for pajama pants for us.

Lining up on the stairs on Christmas morning, waiting to come in. Quick picture with Grandma and Avery too.
This is another memory I want to keep forever. We've really built up the magic of Christmas this year because Keara is at the age where it is now very real to her. So Santa, the reindeer, the elves, it is all true. We told her the night before that elves would be watching to make sure she was asleep and then they would tell Santa it was okay to come to our house. We put out cookies and milk for Santa, and the girls knew that Santa knew they wanted a baby doll and a ring. I love that that is all they asked for.

So on Christmas morning, when they walked into the living room to see the stockings filled and the presents under the tree, Keara exclaimed, "He really DID come!" It was a magic moment. I especially loved that there were NO presents under the tree when she went to bed, but there was a whole bunch when she walked in the next morning. It made it even more magical.

Opening stockings...

It's like Mary Poppins' bag...

Santa brought rings! Hooray!

Keara was very into seeing what everyone got and helping Avery with her things. I loved that the girls didn't feel the need to rip open presents, but truly were amazed at each present they were given. After each, they thought there would be no more for them. But sure enough, there was!

Taryn loved sitting with Grandpa

It was a wonderful Christmas. The very best part that I wish I had a picture of, was when Keara and Taryn opened their baby dolls. We saved it for the very last and the girls were both so content with the few things they got that they were ready to move on, without complaining that maybe Santa didn't bring them the only other thing they asked for. We had to convince them to open one last present.

Keara thought maybe Santa had forgotten or that maybe he just brought the other things instead. But when she opened that box with her doll in it, her eyes flew open wide, she gasped, and looked, stunned, at the little baby doll in her box. She grabbed it in one fluid motion and just hugged it. The magic of Christmas was so real to her at that moment and it was one of the tenderest moments I've experienced. It made the whole day so perfect.

I Want to Remember This Forever

One thing I love about my children (and a lot of children in general) that I always want to remember is that they are not greedy (most of the time) and are naive about a lot of things. They don't know that things from the store that are fun and exciting can actually be bought and brought home with us. They don't know that birthdays and Christmas generally bring gifts from a lot of people. And they get so excited about things that I know they will roll their eyes at as they get older. If only we could keep this forever.

One of the girls' highlights of Christmas was getting new clothes. I love these pictures because they captured such a funny moment.

Here, Taryn has already put on the brown pants and is now putting the jeans OVER them (and backwards too). Keara is lying on the pants she got, giving them a hug.

Here's her hug...

As soon as Taryn opened the shirt, off went her pajama top... ...she finished pulling on the jeans...

...and got her shirt on. Yes, she wore that ensemble most of the day.

What a Great Weekend

This was such a fun weekend. My cousin got married on Saturday, so my mom and Uncle David came in for the wedding. We got to have both of them stay at our home and it was GREAT!

For Taryn and Keara's birthdays, my parents decided to give them a Build-A-Bear experience. I had been "dream building" with the girls at Build-A-Bear many times over the last year and they were SO excited when we got there. I was disappointed that the assistant manager wasn't there because he does such a great job at creating an awesome experience, but the girls didn't know any different. They love their bears! Thanks mom and dad!

Stuffing Keara's bear...
Taryn excited for her turn...too bad I haven't taken after pics yet...

Keara LOVING Uncle David. He was AWESOME and played with the girls so much. They fell in love with him. I love having positive, uplifting, and edifying people in my home. David is certainly one of those. He had even just changed Avery's diaper in this pic...

Keara still adores her baby sister. The magic hasn't worn off a bit...

I adore my mom. She is so hands on and I love it! We went to the library for a quick minute and she even crawled around in the castle with T. The ceilings are only 3 feet high, so you'd need to crawl...

I know, I know. She's not yet 5 months old. But Avery has been reaching for food, trying to mouth everything, and I felt like giving her a few tastes. The other night, it was a banana and she loved it. Yesterday, it was a green pepper. Today, it was a piece of broccoli. She thinks its the greatest thing ever! Keara thought it was hilarious. I love this baby!

i {heart} my pediatrician

We have lived in this state for 3 1/2 years. And in that time, we have had 7 pediatricians. That's right, SEVEN. Its not that I'm overly picky about our peds. I only have a couple requirements: 1) They need to speak english clearly enough that I can understand them, 2) I need to be able to pronounce their name, 3) I don't want to have to drive an hour each way to go to appointments, 4) I don't want them to write a prescription for everything, 5) they can't be paranoid about everything, 6) they know you and your kids when you come in.

1. So our first pediatrician didn't fir the first 2 criteria, so we switched.
2. We found another doctor but he filled out a prescription for literally everything. Her nose is running, here's a prescription. She has a fever, here's a prescription. She grew an inch, here's a prescription. So we switched.
3. We switched to another doctor who was very kind and inspiring. He is severely handicapped physically, but still went thru all that schooling and opened his own practice, which I'm sure was very difficult to do. I think his disability turned off a lot of people because his practice was struggling and he talked (complained) about it at each of our appointments. He tried to be buddy-buddy, but it came off as crass and rude sometimes. So we switched.
4. After a free-advice session at a family gathering, we started going to a doctor that is a friend of a cousin. He was a fine doctor, but I never felt like he really knew me or my kids. After a few months, he opened his own practice and didn't take our insurance anymore. So we switched.
5. We started seeing another doctor from that same clinic but I just didn't love him and then our insurance switched and I was fine finding yet another doctor. So we switched.
6. I looked thru our new insurance's handbook and found that they only offered 7 pediatricians. WHAT?! Going back to my criteria, I couldn't pronounce the names of 2 of them. Of the remaining 5, 4 of them were from the same office and I had read a lot of really bad reviews on the office, staff, and doctors. So I was down to one. And I could pronounce her name. I liked her a lot at first. But then she was way overly paranoid. She had the girls tested for EVERYTHING. Celiac, liver problems, anemia, failure-to-thrive...WHAT?! My girls are NOT failing to thrive. In a matter of 2 weeks at this office, Taryn gained 3 pounds. That's not failing to thrive. But instead of accepting growth and development indicators, she needed to rule out everything before giving the girls a stamp of approval. Then our luck changed...
7. Another doctor joined her newly opened practice. He speaks perfect english, I can pronounce his name, the office was right near all my in-town errands, he rarely writes prescriptions but rather watches and observes the child, he never freaks out about anything yet has caught some things the other doctor missed, and he not only knows us by sight, but by name.

i {heart} my pediatrician. I look forward to the girls' appointments. And I have, for the first time in my parenting career, called a doctor with a question outside of an appointment. I trust him and he trusts me. I absolutely love that I like our pediatrician. And their office moved to even closer to here. So I'm thrilled. I feel that my children are totally safe in his hands.

If you need a good pediatrician, I have a recommendation...

Happy Birthday T!!

Our sweet, wonderful Taryn finally turned 2! She was so excited for WEEKS before her birthday. Everything we did to get ready for it brought squeals of delight from this little girl. We bought ice cream (soy) and put it in the freezer and every time she passed the freezer, she would hit it over and over, yelling, "My birthday! My birthday! My birthday!!" The day of had to be the greatest day of her life. She loved every minute of it.

It started with pancakes in the shape of the number 2...

Then for dinner, we had pizza (at her request) complete with soy based cheese for her...(and a pepperoni number 2)...

Since she can't have food dyes in large quantities, we opted for white frosting (dairy free!) with a scarf made from raspberry-peach jam mixed with frosting. It turned out cute...

She loved it!

We invited my wonderful cousin, Kami, and her 6 kids (and husband, of course) over for the festivities. They take care of the girls often and are Taryn's favorite people. She couldn't have been happier.

It took a few tries, but she was finally able to blow out her candle on her own.

We gave her fuzzy socks. She loves wearing mine as leg warmers, so we got her some of her own. Yes, these are ladies socks on a 2 year old, but she thinks they are great!

Kami's family gave her a My Little Pony and a GORGEOUS framed collage of wonderful pictures they had secretly taken. I'm amazed at the pics they took of Taryn...they caught her personality completely! When I get them, I'll post them. But in the meantime, see our Christmas card below for a sneak peak...

Sydney, Sydney! Taryn loves Sydney. And Sydney puts up with Taryn's energy and boundless love.

It was a PERFECT day! We love you Taryn!!

All in a Day's Work...for a Mom

Granted, this didn't really happen all in one day, but it could have...

The other day, I was nursing Avery when I heard Taryn getting into something downstairs. I asked Keara to see what she was doing and the report came back "She's eating Rice Krispies." Images of Rice Krispies poured all over filled my mind and I figured, oh well, I'll clean it up later.

When I came downstairs, I found this...

I thought, "Okay, Taryn. It could be worse. At least you didn't spill the bowl of milk..."

I went about my business, getting ready to walk out the door. As I got the girls ready, I came around the couch into the family room and found this...

I should have known...

Needless to say, I wouldn't recommend vacuuming that much Rice Krispies off your carpet. I clogged the vacuum 3 times as it tried to suck up all that cereal.

Then, a couple days ago, the girls were taking a bath and I got a phone call. I was sitting about 10 feet from them, but in my room, rather than in the bathroom. I heard Keara dumping water, but thought (really HOPED) that she was doing it in the tub.

Nope. When I came in, there was literally a half inch of water covering the ENTIRE bathroom floor, even behind the toilet. It thoroughly soaked 2 new rolls of toilet paper and took 6 towels to mop it up, even ringing out the towels between wipes.

As I was on my hands and knees mopping up behind the toilet, Taryn came over and PEED right in the standing water. Thank you Taryn.

I guess its moments like these that take a sense of humor. Thank goodness I was talking to Susan who has one and helped me keep perspective!

I Made Pretty Cookies

I love sugar cookies. And I love them frosted. But with this whole dairy free diet, I haven't been able to enjoy any of the yummy cookie plates that have been dropped at our door. And neither has Taryn. So I resolved to make dairy free sugar cookies and dairy free frosting. It was a great success! And they even turned out pretty...

Absolute Devastation

I am devastated. I don't remember the last time I cried this much, this hard, for this long. I know, it's silly, but I am so devastated.

Anyway, we have been looking forward to our upcoming trip to Minnesota since last Christmas when we decided to spend this Christmas there. It has been our focus all year, our excitement, our thing to look forward to.

I just found out that our Minnesota trip isn't going to work out and we're now taking an imprompu trip to Chicago instead. Nothing can replace what we were looking forward to in Minnesota. I am SO SAD!

I'm looking forward to going home for Christmas finally and am sure we'll have a great time!

Merry Christmas!

Here is our digital Christmas card for 2009! If you would also like to receive the letter that goes with it, leave a comment with your email address or email me directly and I'll get it to you. Have a very Merry Christmas!!

Another Yummy Recipe

We tried a new recipe tonight and really enjoyed it. Maybe you will too. It's simple, takes few ingredients, and can be ready in 15 minutes.

MOROCCAN CHICKEN

1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt (it calls for kosher salt, but we didn't have any, so we used table salt)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 Tbs oil

Stir together the cumin, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the chicken (or rub, as Braden did). Heat the oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the chicken and cook about 10-15 minutes or until done, turning once.

We served it over rice and it was really yummy. Of course, you could use couscous or quinoa too if you prefer, or any grain. Even mashed potatoes, if you were so inclined. But the chicken was done in the time it took to cook the rice, so it was perfect. Enjoy!

Third Annual Christmas Party

We had our third annual Christmas party on Saturday night. Each year, we tweek it a little bit to make it better and I definitely enjoyed this year the most. The hardest part is creating the guest list because we just can't invite everyone. This year, especially, we need to keep it a little smaller than usual, which meant it was especially hard. But the end result was fanstatic, though we did miss those who ended up with sick kids and couldn't come at the last minute.

We played some Christmas games (holiday movie who's who and name that tune by identifying the song based on the first initial of the words from the first line of Christmas songs...tough!), ate good food, did a little caroling, and then did a gift swap. Thanks for the idea, Janae!

We asked everyone to bring items they had at home that needed a new home. The idea was to be able to cut out some of the cost of Christmas. Yeah, the items may be used (some were new) but right now, do we care? Some brought a couple things, others brought a ton. We set them out on tables and took turns choosing something. Some people went home with a couple things and others went home with a ton. I loved the things we got, including a LOT of things crossed off my shopping list. YEAH!

I think everyone had a good time, and as long as this recession is going on, we just might do this every year.

Christmas Baby

We were given this adorable dress when Avery was born and she finally got to wear it to church yesterday! She sucked on the bow since it was so huge and kind of just ended up in her mouth all day. She looked so beautiful!

I love her big smiles!! I love this baby so much! Have I mentioned that before?!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

There's a clip on the radio that goes like this "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...that is, if your idea of Christmas is lights on a Saguaro and flip flops at the mall." All too true here in Arizona. But since it is Christmas time, we try to create the feeling of Christmas and the magic of it for our girls. The other night, the town put on a Christmas festival (quite lame, sadly) and we went.

First, we were disappointed that there had been a miscommunication between the town and one of their sponsors. They had a fake ice rink for skating on and had advertised that ages 4 and under were free. So we went and the girls were so excited. But when we got there, we were told they weren't allowed to let anyone under 5 skate AT ALL. Keara was very disappointed.

But then she perked up when I told her Santa would be coming later on and we could come back. For the next 6 hours, that's all she talked about. When we went back later with daddy, we stood in line to see Santa in the bitter cold (okay, it was only 50 degrees) and she and Taryn were so excited. But when it was our turn, Keara got so scared by his big white beard that neither she nor Taryn would go within 10 feet of him. Sad.

So instead, we took a picture with the polar bears:

That is apparently the best Taryn can smile when she is cold. And she was REALLY cold. Check out her face in all these pictures...it's the same!

Braden took the girls on a "train ride" to make up for not skating and not seeing Santa. We didn't want to dish out the $6 for them all to go on it, but as you can see, Keara loved it.

Since mommy is never in any pictures, I made Braden take this one of us, even though the girls were so cold and ready for dinner. I love my girls!

Best Girl Friends

We are so blessed to have wonderful friends who have wonderful daughters who are our girls' best friends.

This crazy nut is Parker (center) and she and Keara can play for hours together. They're usually brutal to Taryn, but sometimes they have good moments like this one. I love having Parker around.

Last week, we got to see Keara's other best friend, Kloey (in the blue chair in the pink shirt) and her sister Klaire (in the red chair in the white T-shirt). We also got to have Parker (far left) and her baby sister Paisley (far right) come over for the day. Taryn and Avery were asleep at this moment, so we only caught 5 girls on camera. Otherwise, there would have been 7! I love little girls!

Thanksgiving...Come and Gone so Soon

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun this year. Braden's sister, Laurie, came in from MO and it was AWESOME to have her. We offered to host Thanksgiving dinner at our home this year for a variety of reasons. We definitely don't see her enough. First, Braden's sister's baby was (and still is) in the hospital meaning the family wasn't going to be getting together at Braden's parents house. Second, we wanted to make sure she would be able to be a part of Thanksgiving without doing any work, so it wasn't going to be at her house either. Third, it is a whole lot easier to cook allergy-free food myself than to dictate instructions to everyone else. So we offered to make the turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, rolls, stuffing, veggies, drink, and a couple pies.

I was so grateful for Amanda (my chocolate SIL) coming down the night before and helping so much. We always have fun together. This year, we enjoyed working on Norbert, our Thanksgiving turkey.

The spread was yummy and even included a deep fried turkey (not Norbert).

The cousins had so much fun together all day. All these little ones and the oldest is 8...

The adults ate outside. We blocked off our patio with a shade screen so it wouldn't be too hot (it was over 80* that day and very windy). I also strung Christmas lights across the ceiling which was very pretty at night. I love having excuses to get out the nice dishes and crystal glasses.

But the whole week wore me out and the next night, I didn't make it past 9 pm.

We Need a Little Laughter

These pictures make me laugh. So I'm posting them in case they make you laugh too. We all need a little laughter in our lives! Thank goodness for kids!


We all take bad pictures once in a while. But I had no idea it started so young! Not a good picture, Avery!

The girls put themselves in "jail" and were screaming to get out. Taryn thought it was so funny. I love her face. But look closer at that hair! What a do!

This one isn't that funny, but just shows Taryn. She always has dirty hands and a dirty face. Love her!

Angel Exposed

This made me laugh 6 months ago and still does today. In May, we went on a family walk. Suddenly, Keara exclaimed "Look! She's going potty!" Of course, we searched around us to see who was indecently exposing themselves to our 3 year old. We asked, "Who Keara?" That's when we discovered the culprit: a stone angel sitting on a ledge in our neighbor's yard. Sure looks like she's going potty to me too!
Every time I pass this, I laugh a little inside.

On the First Day of Christmas, My True Love Gave to Me...

I saw a great idea for a variation on the favorite tradition of doing the 12 days of Christmas. We have both given and been given to with this tradition. Some gifts are expensive and others are quite low cost (aka cheap). But its fun to plan and carry out the knock-and-drop and keep a secret from a friend or neighbor.

However, in this economy, adding another recepient to your list may seem like too much. If you like the kitchen as much as I do, maybe this is a good idea for you. The Twelve Cookie Days of Christmas. Every day you give your secret family a plate of Christmas cookies, each day a different recipe. How fun could that be?! Besides having a reason to try 12 different recipes, you also have an excuse to take a little extra time to decorate those gingerbread bad boys and make them look like a professional made them, rather than a 3 year old who licked the frosting off half way thru and started over.

I would do it this year, but since I can't eat dairy, I don't want to make a bunch of cookies that I can't even eat, nor do I want a lot of leftovers in my house to tempt me since I love cookies above all else, nor do I think everyone else will appreciate milkless, eggless cookies and milkless, colorless frosting. We love our cheats, but I don't know if everyone else will.

So you do it instead! If you need great recipes, I have a FANTASTIC sugar cookie recipe that is better than anything you've ever had, an INCREDIBLE chewy ginger cookie recipe but you just might eat all 10 dozen like I did, a DELICIOUS pumpkin chocolate chip recipe (see post a few days ago), to DIE for caramel brownies (thanks Kerri!) that you truly will want to lay down and die over, and a REALLY yummy chocolate chip pudding cookie that melts in your mouth. Mmmm...C is for cookie, that's good enough for me.

Another Great Giveaway...

Kelli's This and That started a new giveaway today and you're going to love it! Go to http://kellis-thisandthat.blogspot.com/2009/12/another-sponsor-giveaway.html and comment up to 3 times to enter. You just might win! Pass the word along. This awesome sponsor is also offering a discount for those who don't win (or even the winner if they want more) to get 15% off any that they order.

And if you look closely enough, you just might recognize someone in those pictures...